


After Darkness, Surely Dawn

by GirlwithCurls98



Category: Rizzoli & Isles
Genre: Emotional Hurt/Comfort, F/F, Fluff, Made For Each Other, Nightmares, Protectiveness, Rizzles, Romance, True Love
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-13
Updated: 2020-10-13
Packaged: 2021-03-08 17:35:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,854
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27000571
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GirlwithCurls98/pseuds/GirlwithCurls98
Summary: After a particularly tough case, Jane can't seem to fall back asleep. She takes some time to think about her girlfriend and all the reasons she loves her, only to have to pull Maura out of a nightmare.
Relationships: Maura Isles/Jane Rizzoli
Comments: 2
Kudos: 66





	After Darkness, Surely Dawn

Jane groaned quietly, feeling each and every one of her bruises as she rolled over and squinted against the harsh green light of her alarm clock.  _ 2:43 a.m.  _ She sighed, reaching over to turn off the alarm and then thought better of it and just unplugged the damn thing. If they needed her at the station, they would call her- she was  **not** getting up before it was absolutely necessary. She’d earned it. 

The case had been rough. Really, they were all rough, it was just the nature of homicide cases. Even if it wasn’t complicated or difficult to solve, there was still someone lying dead on Maura’s autopsy table. There was still a traumatized family and loved ones searching for answers. She could close a case within a few days but it would still permanently impact everyone involved. 

And Jane considered herself pretty tough. She chased down killers for a living. She’d been shot, stabbed, kidnapped, and threatened. But she always came back to work. It affected her, of course, but she’d gotten really good at coping with all the horrible shit she had to see. Maura called it “adaptive trauma recovery’. She called it ‘not being able to sit back while good people get hurt’. Truthfully, she’d be more worried if she stopped being affected by the violence all around her.

This case had been three days of hell, there wasn’t really any other way to describe it. Two kids, siblings, that had been snatched off their school bus. The entire bus of kids watched as the driver was shot and killed. An Amber Alert had gone out and Jane hadn’t stopped until they were found. It was a case that got worse with each new thing they learned. The kids were in foster care and their mother had been fighting to get them out before she lost custody completely, but had never been able to hold down a job long enough to prove herself fit. Her hallucinations made it nearly impossible to keep a job and without a job, she couldn’t get the medication that helped stop the hallucinations. She’d grabbed them from the bus in a last desperate attempt and tried to flee the country. 

But she didn’t. They’d found the kids and gotten the mother into medical custody, all without any more bloodshed. The ink on their reports hadn’t even dried before Maura and Jane had gone home and gotten to sleep for the first time in nearly seventy-two hours. Maura had crashed hard, falling asleep mid-sentence as she explained the “long term effects of sleep deprivation on cognitive function”. Jane didn’t even have the energy to counter-quip, simply crashed next to her. But no matter how hard she tried, it was almost like her brain was still on high alert and she couldn’t get back to sleep. 

Jane pushed herself up and looked over at Maura. Her girlfriend was still deeply asleep, curled into a tight ball, arms wrapped around her knees. Jane liked to joke that she looked like Bass when she slept, tucked into a blanket shell. Maura had been right by her side the entire time, never failing to stun Jane with her brilliance. She was the one that figured out the mother’s psychosis, piecing together brief glimpses from security cameras. She was the one that had been able to decipher the muddled journal entries and sketchbooks, ultimately being the one to talk the mother down. Maura was, as always, a saint and a scholar.

Jane reached out and lightly brushed Maura’s hair out of her face.  _ How did I get so lucky?  _ They’d both dated other people in the past, a few quite seriously. But the two of them fit together so seamlessly, it was impossible to credit anything but fate. In past relationships, Jane had described her partner as the person who ‘completed’ her, as if there was something inherently missing. Now Jane knew that she was whole, worthy, and capable of success- without needing anyone else. 

But Maura. Her angel, so different from her but capable of understanding and loving everything Jane was and wanted to be. She was the sun to Jane’s moon, each one perfect on their own, content to amplify the radiance and power of the other. Jane would fight the whole world one handed as long as Maura was holding the other. 

All of these thoughts swirled around Jane’s head as she decided that sleep, for the moment, was a lost cause. She got out of bed as quietly as possible, throwing on an old sweatshirt from her police academy days and headed to the kitchen. Jo Friday looked up from where she was curled on the couch; Jane gave her a few scritches in passing before she grabbed a glass of water. As she sipped, she spotted Bass on the floor under the kitchen table. He was also asleep, though it was truly hard to tell with a tortoise. 

_ Everyone can sleep but me. Bastards.  _

Jane was used to occasional insomnia, but it was frustrating when her body was so exhausted but her mind hadn’t caught up yet. Well, it would have to give out eventually, and until then, she could get a few things done. 

She glanced around their kitchen, eyes naturally drawn to the coffee pot. 

_ She must have been really tired. I didn’t realize, she never goes to bed without setting the coffee up.  _

Maura was very particular about coffee, as she was particular about all things, and usually insisted on making sure the coffee would be prepped for the morning. She’d also spent a good part of her life in Europe, so she was particular  _ and _ a coffee snob. 

Personally, Jane thought that any coffee was good as long as it was hot and strong enough to power the space shuttle. But she had to admit that Maura’s fancy coffee was good and the familiar ritual- measuring out the grinds, changing out the filter, making sure that she used filtered (not tap!) water, and adding an extra splash for evaporation- was comforting. And it made Maura happy. And Jane would do almost anything to see her girlfriend smile. Except maybe the dishes. 

“ane?” 

The soft sound yanked her out of her thoughts.  _ Dammit, I didn’t want to wake her up.  _

“I’m right here, one sec!” She called back, hurrying to get Maura a glass of water too. 

“...no...no stop...wait no no”

Jane froze, heart dropping into her stomach. 

“STOP! JANE! NO JANE JANE HELP!” 

Jane didn’t hesitate, socked feet skidding on the floor as she ran to their bedroom. Maura was screaming, arms flailing as she fought off some invisible attacker in her nightmare. Jane switched on the bedside lamp and grasped Maura’s shoulders tightly, narrowly avoiding being hit in the face. 

“Hey, hey, Maura wake up. Wake up, it’s not real. It’s just a dream, C’mon Maura, wake up.” 

Maura’s eyes snapped open with a jolt, darting around, wide but unseeing. Jane fought to keep the soft smile on her face as reassurance, until Maura pushed herself up and pulled Jane into a tight hug, her arms a vice grip around her girlfriend’s waist. Jane returned the hug, tightening her grip when she felt her trembling, one hand smoothing over the back of her hair. 

“Shhh… it’s okay, Angel. Just a dream. You’re safe, I’m right here. Just breathe for me.” 

Maura sucked in a breath and forced herself to exhale, even as it sounded more like a strangled wheeze. Jane tucked Maura closer, resting her chin on top of the other woman’s head. She moved the hand petting her hair down to squeeze the back of her neck, lightly rubbing the base of her skull. Maura relaxed, shoulders slumping like a puppet with cut strings, sobbing while her mind struggled to find an anchor point. Jane pressed a kiss into her hair and continued her litany of reassurance. 

“You’re safe, sweet girl. It’s okay. Deep breaths for me.” 

A short time later, Maura’s sobs had quieted to sniffles and the occasional hiccup. She unstuck herself from Jane’s chest, keeping a tight hold on her girlfriend’s hands. 

“Hey there,” Jane said softly, smiling. “Want to talk about it?” 

Maura shook her head. “M’sorry. Nightmares are common after experiencing significant stress. It’s an irrational overstimulation of the parasymp-” 

“Hey, hey, don’t start with that.” Jane cupped Maura’s face in her hands, trying to communicate a thousand things with a single look into her beautiful hazel eyes. “Irrational or not, it’s okay to be scared by a bad dream. And you never have to apologize for being scared, either.” 

“But I woke you up. And after that case… you need to sleep. It’s not good for you.” 

Jane hummed, the sound rumbling low in her chest. “I was up anyway. And I couldn’t possibly sleep while my Angel’s so upset.” She brushed her thumbs gently under Maura’s eyes, wiping away the rest of the tears. 

Maura smiled, leaning into Jane’s hand, grounding herself in the touch. Her breathing had steadied, but she was obviously still shaky. 

“Here.” Jane pulled off her academy sweatshirt and put it over Maura’s head. 

She smiled gratefully, threading her arms through. It was the slightest bit big on her; she didn’t bother to fix the too long sleeves, instead bringing them up to her nose and sighing. It smelled like Jane- like gun oil and that awful citrus body wash she insisted on buying. 

_ “It’s just soap Maura, I’m not spending twenty bucks on something that could double as dish cleaner.”  _

_ “But the epidermis is the body’s largest organ, it’s worth investing in.”  _

_ “Maura, I swear t-” _

Lost in the happy memory, she startled when Jane slipped one arm under her knees and scooped her up in a fluid motion, settling both of them back against the headboard. Catching her meaning, Maura dragged the comforter over them and curled closer to Jane, finally starting to feel better for the first time in several days. 

“Thanks.” She mumbled. There was more she wanted to say, she always had more to say. But she trusted that Jane understood. And she did. 

Jane reached over to turn off the lamp, letting the darkness wash over them. It was heavy, never suffocating, almost comforting. They were quiet for a long time, floating on the currents of silence, hanging onto the drumming reassurance of their shared heartbeats.

“You know I’ll do anything to protect you, right?” 

Maura did know. Whether the monster was real or just in her head, Jane would protect her. And whether Jane realized it or not, Maura was willing to walk through fire to protect her detective too. 

“Because you love me?” 

Jane leaned down and kissed her. Even in the darkness, she knew exactly where, drawing it out to savor the warmth and the feeling of the woman’s lips gently pressed against hers. Eventually she pulled away, wondering if she’d ever stop getting drunk on their kisses, her head practically buzzing with sensation. 

“Because I love you, Maura Isles.” 

“And I love you, Jane Rizzoli.’ 

**Author's Note:**

> Finally did it! Finally wrote the fluffy Rizzles fic and got it out of my head! The sheer amount of sapphic energy in this show was just begging for a sweet and simple fic. I am not super practiced at writing romance so any comments and help is very welcome. Hope you liked it!


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